Various software applications exist for facilitating the transmission of messages and/or files from one user to another over the Internet and other networks. For example, Biscom Inc. of Chelmsford, Mass. offers a variety of fax solutions, including HD-IPFax, which is a fast, low-cost, and secure method of sending and receiving high-resolution full-color and black and white images and documents directly from one location to another. HD-IPFax is implemented entirely in software, and requires both the sender and receiver of a fax to have HD-IPFax client software installed on their local computers.
Many other messages and file transfer applications similarly require one or both of the sender and recipient to have client software installed on their computers to successfully complete a transmission. If the sender's computer lacks such client software, the sender will be unable to initiate a transmission. Similarly, if the recipient's computer lacks such software, the recipient will be unable to receive the transmission.
Typically, the process of installing the required software is a tedious and time-consuming process. Such installation often involves, for example, performing manual actions to follow a hyperlink to a location from which the installation package for the client software may be downloaded, download the installation package, execute the installation package, and then run the installed software.
Although a sender who desires to use such client software only needs to install it on the sender's local machine once, if the sender desires to transmit messages to multiple recipients, each such recipient must install the requisite client software on his own local machine. In particular, when the sender sends a message to a recipient, if the requisite client software is not installed on the recipient's local computer, the recipient may receive a notification (e.g., an email message) informing the recipient that it is necessary for the recipient to install the client software on the recipient's local machine in order to receive the message. The notification may further include instructions for installing the client software and a hyperlink via which the client software installation package may be downloaded. The recipient may then follow the instructions to download and install the requisite client software. Only then may the recipient use the installed client software to receive the message transmitted by the sender.
The recipient may be required to take additional steps to receive the message from the sender. For example, the message transmission system may require all senders and recipients to be enrolled with the system so that each such user has an account with the system. The account for each user may include a variety of information about the user, such as the user's real name and other contact information, email address, billing information, and a unique identifier (e.g., HD-IPFax address) that other users may use to transmit messages to the user through the system.
Therefore, before a recipient may receive a message transmitted to the recipient by a sender, it may be necessary for an account to be created for the recipient. Some systems may not allow the recipient to create an account for himself. Instead, it may be necessary for a system administrator to manually create, or at least approve the creation of, each new user account. The need for intervention by a system administrator can significantly slow down the process of creating new user accounts and of transmitting messages to new users, and can impose a significant burden on system administrators. Even in systems in which the recipient is allowed to create his own account without the intervention of a system administrator, the need for the recipient to create his own account may significantly slow down the process of creating such an account and of completing the transmission of messages to the recipient.
Whether the recipient's account is created by an administrator or the recipient, it may be necessary to obtain information from the recipient for use in the recipient's account. For example, upon first executing the client software on the recipient's local machine, the client software may require the recipient to manually enter various information, such as the recipient's name and other contact information. Such information may be transmitted and stored in the user's account remotely from the user's local machine, such as at a server maintained by the message transmission system. The client software may also store some or all of the user's account information (such as the user's unique ID with the system) at the user's local machine for easy access by the recipient's client software. In any case, it may be possible for the recipient to receive the message transmitted by the sender only after creating an account and configuring the locally-installed client software with the recipient's account information.
In summary, in message transmission systems in which the sender and/or recipient are required to have client software installed on their local machines in order to successfully complete transmission of a message, the need to install such software, create user accounts, and configure the client software may require a significant amount of manual effort by both the sender, recipient, and system administrator. The need to engage in such effort may delay the transmission of messages or even prevent messages from being received by recipients if such recipients are unwilling or unable to perform all of the required steps manually. Furthermore, senders may be discouraged from initiating the transmission of messages to recipients out of concern that such recipients will not engage in the effort needed to receive those messages. The burdens imposed on users by existing message transmission systems, therefore, can impede the widespread adoption of such systems despite their other benefits.
What is needed, therefore, are techniques for facilitating the installation and configuration of software for use in message transmission systems.